40,000 Kids–1 Universal Language of Music

“It is our job, as parents, educators, and friends, to see that our young people have the opportunity to attain the thorough education that will prepare them for the future. We must encourage our youngsters in such pursuits as music education. In addition to learning the valuable lesson that it takes hard work to achieve success, no matter what the arena, music education can provide students with a strong sense of determination, improved communication skills, and a host of other qualities essential for successful living.”

The first two weeks of the Symphony season have been loads of fun! First a sold-out 70th anniversary celebration concert with violin superstar Gil Shaham, followed by a pair of riveting Classics concerts starring supercharged cellist Alisa Weilerstein. But this coming week the Symphony turns to the activity it does more than any other–music education.

Every year the Symphony works with more than 40,000 students. Some of our programs involve the entire symphony, some are one-on-coaching of student musicians by our talented players and some involve special meetings with our internationally celebrated guest artists. A few examples:

Thursday, cellist Alisa Weilerstein visited the WellMed Clinic to play and talk with youngsters with Juvenile Diabetes. (See Ron Aaron’s photo on the right) Alisa was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes when she was nine and is now a National Celebrity spokesperson for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Her life and successful career is an inspiration to all kids with any kind of illness.

In two weeks our guest artist is violinist Jennifer Koh. In addition to her rigorous rehearsal schedule, Jennifer will be making two appearances to meet with kids. She is appearing at Terra Nova Violins (6983 Blanco Road) on Thursday, October 8 at 5 p.m. to autograph CDs and talk with young string players. She is also visiting Reagan High School to give a masterclass. (CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLAIMER AND SERIOUSLY PROUD PARENT MOMENT: My daughter is the Concertmaster of the Reagan HS Varsity Orchestra and she will be playing for Ms. Koh. She better practice a lot this week!?!)

Our core education program is our Young People’s Concerts for 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. These concerts begin Tuesday, September 29 at Laurie Auditorium at Trinity University. The entire series will consist of 24 concerts throughout the season, all with the “In Tune with History” theme. The first concert is called “Six Flags Over Texas’ and teaches music as well as Texas and American history. The music will take the students on a tour of the six national flags of Texas, featuring the music by composers from Spain, France, Mexico and the United States.

Individual concert tickets are $4 per concert or $12 for the entire four program series. Ticket and transportation scholarships are available to public and accredited private schools. The symphony awards over $80,000 in scholarships for the Young People’s Concerts annually! You can read more about these concerts by reading our teacher’s guide by clicking here.

The final piece of our first week of education programs is our first Family Series concert on Sunday, October 8 at 1:30 p.m. in Laurie Auditorium at Trinity University. Judge Peter Sakai will narrate Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and other musical fairy tales will be explored. At 1:30 p.m. we have an hour of interactive activities including an Instrument Petting Zoo and conducting lessons by Resident Conductor Ken-David Masur. The one-hour concert begins at 2:30 p.m. For tickets call 210-554-1010 or visit.sasymphony.org.